What gets us Stoked, II
This weeks selection of videos that get us stoked and motivated to get outdoors. What have you been watching lately that has been inspiring you? We’d love to see your favorite videos....
10 pieces of Gear we love when in the Wild
We’ve been meaning to put together a list like this for a while and here it is. Being in the outdoors alone is usually enough in and of itself but sometimes well made gear can just make the experience better. Great gear to us is when it doesn’t detract anything from our experience in the wild and only complements it, taking away little inconveniences that would otherwise distract us from enjoying our pursuits. When you’re exhausted, hungry and maybe a little scared dealing with poorly made gear can be the straw that tells us to turn around and give up, whereas exceptionally made gear that takes a burden off our shoulders can give us the motivation to push onward. This list will likely change over the years so we will update with new posts as it does. It’s also not in any specific order. Note: We have personally chosen and purchased all of these products. We receive no sponsorship to use them. 1) Arc’teryx Alpha LT Jacket: Our first Gore-tex hard shells (Our review here). Whether it be a day hike or an overnight trip through all 4 seasons these jackets are in our packs. On sunnier days they act as a wind breaker and when the weather turns for the worst, an all too frequent occurrence in the PNW, we use them to keep us dry and warm. Their bright colors would also aid in getting the attention of SAR if we were to get injured and call for help (I also like the color as it stands out well in photographs). It just works. There are so many little features in the design of this jacket that it would be hard to give a quick synopsis of all of them, from the little pieces of sponge in the hem that stop the jacket from riding up when we have harnesses on to the multiple drawcords on the hood that allow it to be reshaped and configured on the fly depending on the conditions, needs and our activity. We love them and feel naked in the mountains without them. They’re light, comfortable, functional and have never let us down. Some people comment that the price is too high, to them I say “you’ve likely never owned and used one of these jackets”. We’ve put ours through the wringer for close to 3 years now and I expect to get probably another decade or more out of them, at least. That kind of durability and reliability, coupled with Arc’teryx’s bomb proof warranty is why we love these jackets. 2) Marmot Quasar Down Jacket: I reviewed the Marmot Quasar...
There.. Are.. Four.. Pitches: Star Chek
If you’re a die hard Trekkie you may get the reference in the title of this post. If not, then don’t worry about it. A few weeks ago I climbed a multi-pitch route named “Star Chek”, probably named as a play on the name of the popular Sci-Fi show and due to it’s location, above the Cheakamus River, being out of this world. I’d been mentioning this climb to a friend of mine, Adrian, for a while. Ever since I seen pictures of it from reports online the idea of climbing this exposed Arête of rock while a torrent of white water roared below seemed so tantalizing. I’m not at a skill level yet where I could lead it so I’d need Adrian to go on the sharp end of the rope. The stars, pun intended, aligned, and he offered to lead it with me. He’d be passing it on his way North to do some camping so it would work out perfectly. It ended up being myself, Adrian and his better half, Sophie. On the morning of the climb the weather did not seem to be on our side. It was showering and the idea of climbing wet, slick rock was losing it’s appeal. I met up with Adrian and, always the optimist, he said that we should go check it out at least. We got to the parking lot and it was still raining on the windshield of the car. I commented and said that we could do it another time when it was dry if they wanted. Adrian, still being optimistic, wanted to wait. After about a half hour, the rain didn’t seem to be abating much and Adrian said: “We should go”. I initially thought he meant that he wanted to leave and go away, but when I seen him get out of the vehicle and start getting his stuff I realized he wanted to go do the climb. At the very least he wanted to get to the base of the climb and see what the rock was like up close. I’ve written about this in the past in my post “Get your nose against it” and how you should always go as far as you can before turning around but on this day, with it raining, I was thinking about breaking my own rule and throwing in the towel at the parking lot. Adrians gusto was infectious though so we grabbed our stuff and began descending into the gorge that would lead us to the base of Star Chek. After about 10 minutes I noticed something odd. The rock further down in the gorge...
We are human beings, not human doings..so just be
The first time I heard this phrase was in one of the first Yoga classes that I’ve attended. At the time, when I heard it I giggled to myself thinking it sounded a little silly and maybe a little airy fairy. I’m sure at the time the Yoga teacher was just saying this to get everyone to relax, “be” in the moment and just breathe. But when I really think about what this combination of words is trying to say, it really hits home for me. I tend to be the type of person who takes things to heart, internalizes my feelings and then ends up feeling a lot of stress. But what am I doing? Why am I allowing myself to do this? I am the only one who can control what is happening in my mind and how I choose to accept external influence or opinions. Come on…… take a deep breath and just….. be. Just allow life to roll over you and through you, feel it, taste it; the good and the bad. Allow life to be the adventure it should be and allow it to shape you. Don’t fight so hard against its current, it’s going to ebb and flow and the more relaxed and more willing you are to face it straight on, the easier it will be to flow with it, rather than try to break through each wave as it comes at you. I guess that’s the funny thing about life. It’s so much bigger than ourselves that it feels like it should be something that needs to be in our control, like we should always have a tight grasp on what is about to happen next, to avoid feeling fear, disappointment, betrayal, all the truly uncomfortable human emotions. But if we didn’t feel the fear would we still feel exhilaration? If we didn’t know betrayal would we truly understand trust? We don’t need to seek out these uncomfortable emotions, but I don’t think we should run away at the first sight of them. Allow yourself to rise up to meet them. See how you transform in response to them; allow yourself to feel them so that they can refine you and let you know what is truly worth holding onto and what is worth discarding. Like any truly great adventure, life has transformative powers if we give ourselves over to it....
